Judge Sides With Victims Of Investment Scheme During Sentencing

One after the other, the victims came forward in the federal courtroom.

John Kudela, 72, a retiree, said the fraud scheme cost him $5,000, "which to my wife and I is a lot of money."

Ron Patrick of Justice was bilked out of $27,000, "my life savings," he said. He is now on disability.

Patrick's wife, Rose Marie, then stepped forward to speak for "some of the older ladies" who "are afraid to come up here. I will make it my life mission to see he pays for what he did to us."

Moved by their anger and passion, U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman sentenced the target of their animosity, Thomas Burke, to 46 months in prison on Wednesday and ordered him to pay full restitution.

At the urging of Assistant U.S. Atty. Christopher Cook, Gettleman ordered Burke taken into immediate custody to the delight of the victims in the courtroom.

"I don't see how you can look in the mirror and know you have destroyed their self-esteem," Gettleman said to Burke, who pleaded guilty to bilking more than $250,000 from about 25 people.

Earlier in the sentencing, Burke had vowed to repay all the money after he gets out of prison.

"I can't stand the person who did this," said Burke, referring to himself. He then turned toward the victims in court and said, "When I say I'll pay it back, I mean I'll pay it back. I don't care how long it takes."

"That's baloney," Ron Patrick said later, contending Burke's promises would have been more believable if he had made even a token payment since he has been working in recent weeks.

Burke, 42, of Chicago, peddled phony notes he falsely claimed were backed by second mortgages on homes, promising investors he would triple investments in 60 days.

In some cases, he won the trust of victims after offering to draw up living trusts for them and learning detailed financial information from them, Cook said.

Burke was a lawyer who lost his license to practice after he was convicted in 1986 on a federal charge of using a telephone to arrange the purchase of a kilogram of cocaine, Cook said.